Alphabet Club: D

They only met online, but it
changed their lives forever

The Alphabet Club is the brainchild of Serendipitous Jo and Chiara of the Grey Tail. You can read about it here, but the short answer is that each month a group of stitchers will talk about words specific to our languages (dialects, regionalisms), often related in some way to our stitching. You're invited.

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Dololly: Before there was the Star Detailor and the Tail Catcher there was the Dololly. (It is no longer produced, which is a shame since mine is in such poor shape.) There were stories that the name was a synonym for "thingamajig" or "watchamacallit," but I have found no evidence of this in any dictionaries. The closest you will come up with is "doolally," which in British English means crazy. Anyway, where I'm from a thing of unspecified object is a "doohickey."

The very first dololly I had, which was unfortunately left on a plane in 2004, had a nice heft to it. When I replaced that one, the new one seemed kind of underweight and the wire was easier to push out of shape. And that has certainly happened over the last few years.

My other word is "dude." I'm sure with American movies being exported around the world this is one that is showing up in other people's Englishes. In America, it's more of an Angeleno word which is part of the reason that the dude is called the dude. (We were in L.A. when I started writing the blog.) It's also the word I use to get the attention of men I don't know, like if a guy drops something in the street. The dude thinks it's impolite, but I figure it's less polite to let him drop his thing and walk away while I try to think of a better word to call him.

In our house the dude sometimes passes the dololly, especially if I'm driving him doolally.

Alphabet Club: B for Barbecue

They only met online, but it
changed their lives forever

The Alphabet Club is the brainchild of Serendipitous Jo and Chiara of the Grey Tail. You can read about it here, but the short answer is that each month a group of stitchers will talk about words specific to our languages (dialects, regionalisms), often related in some way to our stitching. You're invited.

Barbecue is an American word borrowed from either the Spanish or Haitian barbacoa (my favorite thing at Chipotle, btw). Although many cultures use the word barbecue (or barbeque or bar-b-cue or BBQ) to mean to cook over an open fire (that would be grilling, sweetheart) most Americans (the ones who are right) mean cooking low and slow over smoke.

And the people who do this best are the southerners. (I'm New Hampshire born and raised, New England for generations, but my belly is all southern.) The main styles of barbecue, which vary widely, are from the Carolinas, Memphis, Kansas City, and Texas. (There are lesser-known styles.) The dude and I decided, after eating barbecue on our cross-country stop in Memphis, that we should travel to all the major barbecue capitals. Three main things distinguish the difference between the styles: meat, wood, and sauce.

Barbecuing at L.C.'s in KC

(This next part is going to be oversimplified because whole books have been written about American barbecue traditions, and I'm writing a blogpost. Don't hate.)

Memphis-- primarily ribs. These come wet or dry. (Wet is basted with sauce at the beginning and end of, and sometimes during, cooking;  dry is cooked with spice rub.) When we went to Interstate in Memphis, I willingly ate a rib for the first time, and then I got it.

Kansas City--variety of meats, although burnt ends (which I ate every day in KC) are particular to the place; these are the charred ends of brisket (beef or pork). The distinction is the barbecue sauce, which is slathered over the smoked meat and is tomato based with sweet and spicy flavors. Mmmm. FWIW, when the dude and I went to KC, we though LC's had the best sauce. We brought two bottles home with us.

Carolina-- pork; usually oak or hickory; vinegar-based sauce (sometimes mustard-based). Unless you're on the other side of the state, then all bets are off (actually it's a tomato-based sauce with vinegar and pepper). We were on the Eastern side of things when we visited. You can read the report here.

Texas--we haven't been to Texas on the barbecue tour yet. They say there are four main styles of Texas barbecue, but we're going for "East Texas" style the where beef is cooked over hickory wood and marinated in a sweet, tomato-based sauce.

We also have Owensboro, Kentucky on the tour. Their claim to fame is mutton with a vinegar based sauce...and a barbecue festival that's been going since the 70s.